RAISING THE AFRICAN STANDARD THROUGH TRAINING AND ASSISTANCE

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RAISING THE AFRICAN STANDARD -THROUGH TRAINING
AND ASSISTANCE

• NOVEMBER 2007

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SABS TEXTILE TESTING LABORATORY

• 1. OPEN FOR VIEWING
• Universities, standards organizations,
  governments
  
• ( TANZANIA, ETHIOPIA, NIGERIA, IVORY COAST, UN
  DELEGATES)
  

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SABS TEXTILE TESTING LABORATORY

• 2. ANSWERS TECHNICAL QUESTIONS regarding testing
  and product problems of textiles
  
• Companies and standards organizations
• ( BOTSWANA, ZIMBABWE, ETHIOPIA, KENYA AND KENYA
  ASSOCIATION of MANUFACTURERS)
  

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SABS TEXTILE TESTING LABORATORY

• 3. TRAINING provided in textile, leather and
  footwear
  
• standards organizations
• ( BOTSWANA, MAURITIUS, up coming ETHIOPIA BUREAU
  of STANDARDS)
  

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SABS TEXTILE TESTING LABORATORY

• 4. TESTING that cannot be done by any of the
  standards authorities are also contracted to
  SABS
  

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LEGAL/TRADE METROLOGY

• Workshops at SADCMEL meetings in various
  countries
  
• 2002 Verification of non automatic weighing
  instruments
  
  
• (Angola, DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique,
  Namibia, Seycelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda,
  Zambia and Zimbabwe)

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LEGAL/TRADE METROLOGY

• 2005 Verification of mechanical counter
  scales
  
• (Botswana, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi,
  Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and
  Zimbabwe)
  
• 2006 Trade Metrology Act and Regulations
• (Swaziland and Rwanda)
• 
  

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SOUTH AFRICA WTO/TBT ENQUIRY POINT

• STANDARDS SOUTH AFRICA

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TRAINING BY SOUTH AFRICA
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TRANING CONTINUE
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TRANING CONTINUE
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TRAINING COURSES

• How to write a national standard
• Participating in ISO and IEC meetings
• Standards editing
• Effective committee meetings
• Set up of Standards Information Centre
• Set up of WTO/TBT Enquiry Point
• WTO agreement and responsibilities of member
  countries

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DAY ONE

• Understanding the WTO
• What are Non-Tariff Barriers?
• The WTO/TBT Agreement
• Technical regulations vs standards
• The Code of Good Practice for Standards
• Dispute settlements and International Standards

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DAY TWO

• Responsibilities of WTO members
• Organizing WTO/TBT Enquiry Point
• Scope of responsibility of Enquiry Point
• Management and procedures in Enquiry Point
• Identifying TBT or SPS
• The notification process

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DAY THREE

• Completing the notification form
• Disseminating notifications of other members
• Handling of comments
• Statistics and reporting to Ministry of Trade
• Products and services of Enquiry Point

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Callenges for Developing Countries in Africa

• Lack of knowledge of the WTO agreement in
  Notification Authority and Enquiry Points
  
• Lack of awareness of responsibilities of WTO
  members in regulatory department of government
  
• Lack of support from Ministry of Trade

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Callenges for Developing Countries in Africa

• Non-transparent development of technical
  regulations
  
• No separation of voluntary standards and
  compulsory technical regulations
  
• Delegates to workshops too high in stature
• No knowledge transfer after workshops or meetings
  to officers on the floor
  

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Callenges for Developing Countries in Africa

• Language barrier for Portuguese speaking
  countries
  
• Information about workshops and meetings by WTO
  are not given through from missions in Geneva to
  their countries and/or from Ministries to Enquiry
  Points

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Callenges for Developing Countries in Africa

• All you need to run a successful WTO/TBT
  Enquiry Point is a PC with Internet, a telephone
  and maybe fax facilities.

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Possible solutions

• Training from different sources
• Knowledge transfer after meetings and workshops
• Ministry to realize and ackowledge importance of
  Enquiry Point
  
• Regular interaction between Ministry and Enquiry
  Pount
  
• Awareness workshops to regulators

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Possible solutions

• Regulators to attend workshop on Good Regulatory
  Practice in Geneva in March 2008
  
• Awareness sessions or presentations to standards
  organization on the Code of Good Practice for
  Standards development
  
• Assistance with IT programmes for electronic
  notification systems
  

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• THANK YOU